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Garden Bloggers Bloomday March 2019-Sun at Last

It seems like it rained the entire month of February. As much as we summer-dry climate gardeners wish for rain, ill-timed and protracted deluges can become a little depressing. The rain is okay, but the explosion of weed growth, and the unfavorable conditions for pulling (pouring rain, muddy heavy soil) becomes overwhelming. I am now grateful to be at the end of a full week with no rain. The soil in some areas is still saturated but sunny days with the bonus of daylight savings means I could finally embark on my customary 1/2 hour a day minimum of weeding after work. I like weeding, it's great for post-office decompression, and I have found that these brief sessions on weekday evenings reduce the feelings of weed despair because good results are clear every time.
I feel as though our spring is late this year but I didn't post on March Bloomday last year so I have no real comparison. This year though it's all about the Euphorbias and Hellebores. Carol over at May Dreams Gardens is our hostess for this monthly event, be sure to stop by for a taste of March blooms across the land.

Euphorbia characias wulfenii is certainly not rare or glamorous anymore , and every plant I have now is a volunteer. I love having this bright lime beacon in the garden during the gloomy days of January and February. They will all be pulled up before May 1st, and a new crop will spring up in a new place for Q1 of next year.

Euphorbia 'Blackie' tends to be short -lived in my zone 9 garden. I'm happy if I get 3 years out of it. I love the color and the compact size.

This is Euphorbia 'Silver Swan', another favorite. This performs much better for me than the similar 'Tasmanian Tiger' and 'Glacier Blue' both of which crapped out after a couple of years.

NOID Hellebore.I've had this one for several years and the clump continues to expand. It was the first to bloom this year.

I love my Corsican Hellebores. The plant is architectural, carefree and has a very long season of interest. It does re-seed, but pulling out those that are poorly located is an easy matter.

The excellent Geum 'Totally Tangerine' is just ramping up.

This is Passionflower 'Blue Horizon' . I expect Passion Vines to die back to the ground in winter. Not only did this not die back , it never stopped blooming.

I planted 350 Tulips in fall.They are an extravagance-with a few exceptions Tulips do not naturalize here and so they will be dug up, composted and ordered again for fall 2019 planting. This is 'Cream Jewell' a new variety for me this year and I am very happy with it.I will definitely order it again . This was my first to bloom this spring and there are still more just setting buds.

And spring would not be complete without Cerinthe major. You only need to plant it once. Fortunately the seedlings are easy to pull.

Happy Bloom Day and Happy Spring to you too! Lots of gorgeous blooms in your garden to welcome the season. Good for you for planting tulips to enjoy, if only for a single season. Most don't naturalized well here either but a few do so for a good show, we plant them each fall as well. Even though Euphorbia characias wulfenii is no longer in vogue, who would want to be without those gorgeous blooms at this time of year?

I love all my Euphorbias-they are so accommodating. I figure my 350 tulips isn't any more $$ than a night out at a really good restaurant, and it's way less than going to the ballgame. Everything in the garden can be justified !

I sowed cerinthe a few months back and mine are starting to bloom too, very much hoping they return. What big, almost shrub-like plants they turn into. Your tulips look strong, long stems, amazing how much moisture they can take! The weeds here are unbelievable -- the long drought makes you forget what weediness looks like!

And here I counted myself lucky to get 9 tulips blooms! Our gardens and climates (I'm now classified as zone 11a) are very different but we do share the plethora of Euphorbia, although I don't have any of that splendid 'Blackie' in my garden. I sowed Cerinthe seeds back in January but, as my raccoon friends have made several forays through the garden bed I'd selected for them, I suspect I won't see any of the blooms.

I had a hell of a time finding 'Blackie' last year, and one of them 'passed-on' so I only have two . It ruins my design ! I feel so badly for you with your chronic racoon issues. Maybe you need a pet cheetah.

Oh yes Hoov, one and a half shelves in the fridge were stuffed with tulips from Oct to just after Thanksgiving. I can report that thus far the reseeding behavior of Orlaya has been pretty good-not to many, not too few.

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